Serving you since 1998
June 2007 :   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

June 12, 2007 


ICRC warns of growing civilian toll in Afghanistan
GENEVA (AFP) - The international Red Cross warned Tuesday that Afghan civilians were paying the price as increasingly bitter fighting between international forces and Taliban insurgents spreads across  Afghanistan.

"The humanitarian situation in Afghanistan is worse now than it was a year ago," said Pierre Kraehenbuehl, director of operations for the International Committee of the Red Cross.

"Civilians suffer horribly from mounting threats to their security, such as increasing numbers of roadside bombs and suicide attacks, and regular aerial bombing raids," he added.

The ICRC said in a statement that the conflict pitting Afghan government and US and  NATO forces against the armed opposition had "significantly intensified" in the south and east of the country since 2006.

It has also spread to the north and west, resulting in "a growing number of civilian casualties," it added.

The increasingly polarised situation is hampering humanitarian and development work outside major cities, leaving many civilians "in dire need of emergency assistance," the ICRC said.

"They also lack access to basic services. It is incredibly difficult for ordinary Afghans to lead a normal life," Kraehenbuehl added.

Nearly 13 billion dollars of international aid has been spent in Afghanistan in a US-led reconstruction and security effort following the 2001 toppling of the Taliban regime.

But the development effort has been sharply criticised for failing to produce much progress in war-shattered Afghanistan.

Scores of civilians have been killed this year in attacks by Taliban forces or in military operations against the militants.

Late Monday, rockets fired from Pakistan at a US and Afghan military base in southeastern Afghanistan landed on civilian houses and wounded a family of five, the local governor said.

Civilians are caught up in suicide and roadside bombings by insurgents, but the rising number of civilian casualties from the US and NATO military effort has also caused alarm.

Southern Afghanistan is the birthplace of the extremist Taliban movement and the area has seen most of the attacks from the movement's insurgency.

More than 50,000 foreign soldiers, most of them Americans, are in Afghanistan to help Afghan security forces.
Back to Top
Back to Top
NATO soldier dies in Afghanistan blast, two wounded
Tue Jun 12, 3:02 AM ET
KABUL (AFP) - A  NATO soldier was killed and two others were wounded in an explosion in southern  Afghanistan, NATO's International Security Assistance Force said Tuesday.

"An ISAF soldier died and two were wounded in Regional Command South following an explosion yesterday," an ISAF press statement said.

The 37-nation ISAF said it would not release the nationality of the casualties until this had been announced by relevant countries. Most ISAF soldiers in the south are British, Canadian, Dutch and US nationals.

It also did not give the location of the incident, which took to 81 the number of foreign soldiers killed in Afghanistan this year, most of them in hostile action.

Around 190 were killed last year, about 120 in combat inside the country.

There are more than 50,000 foreign troops, mostly with ISAF but also with a separate US-led coalition, fighting an insurgency by the ultra-conservative Taliban alongside the Afghan army and police.

The militants have waged a bloody insurgency since their ouster in late 2001 in a US-led offensive. The insurgency has claimed thousands of lives.
Back to Top
Back to Top
Afghans Say 7 Police Killed In U.S. - Led Strike
By REUTERS  June 12, 2007
JALALABAD, Afghanistan (Reuters) - U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan mistakenly killed seven policemen in an air strike after Afghan forces came under attack from the Taliban and asked for help, a provincial official said on Tuesday.

Violence has surged in Afghanistan in recent months but a threatened Taliban offensive has not materialized. Last year was the bloodiest in Afghanistan since U.S.-led forces removed the Taliban in 2001.

The air strike came after the Taliban stormed police posts late on Monday in Khogiani district of the eastern province of Nangarhar, which borders Pakistan, district police chief Adel Balwal told Reuters..

Police sent reinforcements and called for help from U.S. forces, he said. "In the coalition bombing, seven policemen lost their lives."

A U.S. military spokesman said he was aware of the raid but had no other details.

Thirteen policemen were missing, Balwal added.

If the deaths are confirmed, the incident would be one of the most serious cases of mistaken fire on Western or Afghan security forces by the U.S.-led coalition force.

A Taliban spokesman said by telephone from an undisclosed location the militants had killed 12 policemen.

About 50,000 foreign troops led by the U.S. military and NATO are in Afghanistan, battling a resurgent Taliban and their al Qaeda allies.

CIVILIANS SUFFERING: RED CROSS
Separately, NATO forces killed three Afghans in the eastern province of Kunar on Monday after a car in which they were traveling failed to stop at a checkpoint, NATO said.

Two Afghans were wounded in the firing.

Residents of the area protested against the incident, the latest in a string of civilian casualties caused by foreign troops.

More than 120 Afghan civilians have been killed by foreign forces in recent months, according to government officials and residents.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said on Tuesday that since 2006 violence had significantly intensified in the south and east and was spreading to the north and west, bringing a "growing number of civilian casualties."

"Civilians suffer horribly from mounting threats to their security, such as increasing numbers of roadside bombs and suicide attacks, and regular aerial bombing raids," Pierre Kraehenbuehl, director of ICRC operations, said in a statement.

Civilian casualties are particularly problematical for President Hamid Karzai, already facing widespread resentment among the public over Taliban attacks, lack of development and growing corruption.

Also on Monday, more that two dozen insurgents were killed in the southern province of Kandahar in an eight-hour battle that began when the militants ambushed against coalition and Afghan police, the U.S. military said.

There were no casualties reported among civilians, it added, but did not say if the coalition forces suffered any losses.
(Additional reporting and writing by Sayed Salahuddin)
Back to Top
Back to Top
Gunmen kill two schoolgirls in Afghanistan
By Sayed Salahuddin
KABUL (Reuters) - Gunmen riding on a motorbike fired at girls outside a school in Afghanistan on Tuesday, killing two and wounding six, authorities said.

The attack took place in Logar province, south of the capital, Kabul, at the end of the school day. The attackers fled, they said.

"Those who carried out this cowardly attack are the enemies of the country," Education Minister Hanif Atmar told reporters.

The Afghan government uses the term "enemies of Afghanistan" to describe Taliban guerrillas and their al Qaeda allies.

During their rule, the Taliban barred girls from education and women from most work outside the home.

Ousted from power in 2001, the Taliban have been blamed for burning many schools and killing several teachers. They have also warned people against sending their girls to school.

About 200,000 school-aged children cannot go to school in southern and eastern areas where the Taliban are most active.

Atmar said authorities were worried about more attacks on girls' schools.

Although women and girls have been able to go to school and get jobs since the Taliban were ousted, women still face threats, either from family members or from some factional forces, even in areas where the Taliban have no influence.

This month, two women journalists, one an outspoken critic of some factional commanders, were killed by gunmen.

Last month, the country's lower house of parliament sacked a woman lawmaker, another critic of factional forces, after she said the house was worse than a stable.
Back to Top
Back to Top
Pakistan presses tribesmen to expel Al-Qaeda
MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (AFP) - Pakistani authorities on Tuesday issued a fresh appeal to tribesmen in a rugged region bordering  Afghanistan to expel Taliban and Al-Qaeda rebels and their supporters.

The call came as President Pervez Musharraf faces continued pressure from his US and Western allies about militancy in the impoverished tribal belt and peace deals between the government and the rebels.

Local administrator Pirzada Khan told 500 tribesmen and Islamic clerics in North Waziristan that he was bringing a message direct from Musharraf and the governor of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province.

"Pakistan is under tremendous pressure from foreign countries over militant activity," Khan told the jirga, or tribal assembly, in Miranshah, the main town in the district.

Amid allegations that there were foreign militants and training camps in Waziristan, Khan said that "to find a solution we shall have to expel those who are not with the nation."

Pakistani troops carried out several bloody offensives against militants in North Waziristan before signing a controversial peace pact there in September 2006.

Khan praised tribesmen for their "commendable role" since but said that "some people are siding with the enemy for little money and they want to create misunderstandings between tribes and government."

One senior tribesman at the meeting said they would do all to keep the peace deal intact, but accused the United States of wanting to "end Pakistan and the tribes."

"We will not let it happen," Maulvi Abdul Rehman said.

US officials have said that the leadership of  Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network has rebuilt itself in Waziristan since the Saudi fled Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban in late 2001.

Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai meanwhile has alleged that Pakistan's intelligence services have been backing Taliban fighters based in the tribal areas.

Musharraf, who has escaped at least two Al-Qaeda assassination attempts, denies the claims and says that Pakistan has 90,000 troops along the border and is doing all it can to stop militancy.
Back to Top
Back to Top
More than two dozen militants killed in Afghanistan 
By IANS Tuesday June 12, 04:50 PM
Kabul, June 12 (Xinhua) Afghan police and the US-led coalition forces killed over two dozen insurgents in Kandahar province of southern Afghanistan, while Afghan officials accused US forces of killing seven police officers in eastern province.

Policemen and coalition soldiers were patrolling in Shah Wali Kot district Monday when militants ambushed them, the statement said.

The combined force returned the fire, killing several militants and forcing others to retreat, it added.

Five hours later, over 30 attackers attempted to ambush the same patrol again. The forces fought back and requested close air support.

'Over two dozen enemy fighters were killed,' the statement said, adding one Afghan police officer was injured.

Meanwhile, US forces 'mistakenly' killed seven Afghan policemen and injured five in Nangarhar province of eastern Afghanistan, an official said Tuesday.

US troops opened fire and dropped bombs on a police post in Khogyani district Monday night, a police officer in the district Nasiz Ahmad said, adding three police vehicles were also damaged.

Local officials said apparently there was a misunderstanding.

Meanwhile, the US-led coalition forces said in a statement that some coalition soldiers were conducting a patrol in the district when they were suddenly ambushed.

The forces requested air support, which killed seven Afghans of unconfirmed identities, according to the statement.

Due to rising Taliban-linked insurgency, over 2,000 persons, most of whom were Taliban militants, have been killed in Afghanistan this year.
Back to Top
Back to Top
Dutch PM warns of 'failed state' danger for Afghanistan
Mon Jun 11, 3:08 PM ET
OTTAWA (AFP) - The Dutch prime minister Monday warned against allowing

Afghanistan to relapse into a "failed state" while holding fire on whether the Netherlands will extend its troop presence there.

Jan Peter Balkenende was speaking after talks here with his Canadian counterpart, Stephen Harper, who made clear his desire for Dutch soldiers to continue their involvement in a

NATO peacekeeping force in Afghanistan.

The two leaders discussed "the need for other NATO member states to do more for institutions like the UN" in Afghanistan and to get Afghan security forces to play a stronger role against a resurgent Taliban, Balkenende said.

"The international community has a long-term responsibility towards Afghanistan. We cannot allow it to become a failed state again," he told a news conference.

Balkenende said his government would decide this summer if it would contribute troops to NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan beyond August 2008, "and if so, how."

"We will, of course, consult closely with Canada on this," he said.

Nearly 2,000 Dutch soldiers form part of an ISAF deployment in the central Afghan province of Oruzgan. Canada has a contingent of 2,500 troops in the country's south.

Harper said he shared Dutch concerns about the future of ISAF in Afghanistan, where rising civilian casualties at the hands of foreign troops fighting the Taliban have triggered public anger.

But he added: "I obviously will not pressure the prime minister in public, but just to say that we have valued tremendously the cooperation with the Netherlands in southern Afghanistan."

The two leaders said they also discussed climate change and sustainable energy.
Back to Top
Back to Top
Afghanistan: Workers Still Await Security Clearance To Repair Kajaki Dam
By Ron Synovitz
June 12, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- British and U.S. forces in southern Afghanistan have not yet been able to claim success on their key stated objective despite a major NATO offensive against the Taliban.

The international troops are trying to keep the area around the Kajaki Dam safe enough for workers to complete repairs so the hydroelectric facility can provide electricity to some 2 million people.

British and U.S. forces are promising millions of dollars in aid for the volatile Sangin district of Afghanistan's southern province of Helmand. But they say the aid will only be delivered if tribal elders help prevent Taliban fighters from returning to the area after NATO's spring offensive there.

About 100 district elders were told by U.S. and British military officers on June 7 that construction workers will not come to Sangin to build hospitals and roads -- or to repair the nearby Kajaki Dam -- as long as locals continue to support Taliban fighters.

In December, Britain's top commander in Afghanistan announced that the Taliban had been "cleared" from the Kajaki area so that construction workers could return in the spring. But that claim proved premature when Taliban fighters in February seized nearby towns and continued to launch mortar and rocket attacks on the dam.

Since then, the mountain valley to the north of Sangin has been seen as a key -- both tactically and symbolically -- to controlling southern Afghanistan.

In March, NATO launched a major offensive to force the Taliban away from the dam.

'The Spoilers'

NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer explained that the reconstruction of Kajaki's main turbine would show millions of people in Helmand and Kandahar provinces that foreign forces are in Afghanistan to help improve their security and living conditions.

"When the turbine in that dam is [installed], it will give power to 2 million people and their businesses," de Hoop Scheffer said. "It will provide irrigation for hundreds of farmers. And it will create jobs for 2,000 people. The Taliban, the spoilers, are attacking this project every day to [try to] stop it from going forward."

Sangin has been largely quiet since the start of June when NATO cleared the Kajaki valley with a combined U.S.-British assault -- Operation Axe Handle.

The operation's British commander, Lieutenant Colonel Stewart Carver, told the elders at Sangin last week that forcing the Taliban back was the easy part. He said the more difficult part is to make sure the Taliban do not return.

Still On Hold
Amid those concerns, NATO has not yet given clearance for civilian workers to move in and start repairs at the Kajaki Dam.

Carl Abdou Rahmaan is the acting mission director in Afghanistan at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) -- the organization that is funding Kajaki's reconstruction.

Rahmaan told RFE/RL today that although fighting has prevented workers from setting up their base camp, some aspects of the project are moving forward.

"In light of the military activities there, we have adjusted our schedules and we have moved forward with the project," Abdou Rahmaan said. "We have identified those aspects of the project where we could begin and continue work, and we are moving forward with them. The schedule that we are working with now does not impact negatively on the overall schedule because we will be moving forward with putting in place routine capabilities to deliver materials and supplies to the campsite. We will be moving forward with the road construction. And the plan is to move forward with the transmission line."

When completed, the transmission line would stretch some 190 kilometers from the dam to the city of Kandahar. But Rahmaan said workers must first complete the roads needed by construction workers and security forces to link the dam to the country's main highway -- the so-called ring road that links Kabul with Kandahar and Herat.

"The plan now is to build a construction access road from the ring road up to Sangin to enable us to move materials up toward the dam," Abdou Rahmaan said. "We have a major program, our provincial-roads program, that is planned to link the ring road to the provincial capitals. And then we have a secondary roads program that will be moving down to the district level. This [construction] road is primarily linked to the Kajaki dam project. It is being financed with the resources that would normally be associated with the provincial roads project."

USAID officials hope that residents of Kandahar will start receiving electricity from Kajaki's repaired turbine by early 2008. But to reach that goal, work on the turbines would have to start during the next two months.
Back to Top
Back to Top
Iran: Poker-Faced Amid Allegations Of Interference In Afghanistan
By Amin Tarzi
June 12, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- As Iran and the United States return -- after a break of nearly three decades -- to direct and formal diplomatic discussion through dialogue over Iraq, it is Tehran that appears to be raising the stakes by demanding an exclusive agenda and blindly pursuing its own advantage.

Tehran has not been shy about the fact that it can make life difficult for the United States in Iraq, and elsewhere, when the occasion arises.

Iran seems to be playing a familiar game of creating quagmires and then offering its adversary a way out as a bargaining chip.

Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said recently that "Iran does not intend to provide circumstances whereby the occupiers can end their occupation gracefully, nor do we approve of what the Americans did in Iraq."

Tehran sounds as though it is trying to strengthen its hand -- and conversely weaken Washington's -- in the context of its discussions with the United States.

Gentle Reminders

The Islamic republic has sought advantage in its dealings with the United States by demonstrating that it can destabilize Afghanistan with ease and on multiple fronts.

Until very recently, most Afghan government officials and the Afghan public would have pointed to Pakistan as the neighbor meddling in their country's affairs and supporting the insurgency. But early this year, reports began to surface of alleged Iranian intrusions into western Afghan airspace and of suspected camps inside Iran where opponents of Afghanistan's central government were allegedly being trained. Kabul, its hands full with Pakistan, initially tried to downplay suggestions of Iranian interference. The signs became harder to ignore when U.S. and NATO military sources claimed to have discovered weapons of Iranian origin inside Afghanistan. Questions about Iran's motives began circulating. Why would Tehran support Afghan clients with weapons that are traceable back to Iran? If it could easily send anonymous weapons, why wouldn't Iran do so?

The forced expulsion of tens of thousands of Afghan refugees from Iran also sent shock waves through western Afghanistan, and sparked a humanitarian crisis. Some 85,000 Afghans were forced to return to a land that could hardly absorb them. The expulsions also sent a message to Kabul. Without breaking international law, Iran flexed its muscles and demonstrated its influence over Kabul's ability to govern and the inadequacy of Western reconstruction efforts.

Stronger Hand Than In Iraq
Iran arguably holds a stronger hand in Afghanistan than in Iraq. In the 1980s, even as the Iran-Iraq War raged, Iran was playing host to more than 1 million Afghan refugees and cultivating strong political and military alliances with several fronts inside Afghanistan. Some of Iran's closest allies in the Afghan power structure are now in positions of considerable authority in Kabul. Unlike in Iraq, the Iranians also can infiltrate Afghanistan with relative ease, since inhabitants of eastern Iran share many common traits -- not limited to language -- with their western Afghan neighbors.

 Afghan President Hamid Karzai (left), with his Iranian counterpart Mahmud Ahmadinejad in May 2006, has consistently emphasized Iranian-Afghan friendship (AFP)If Iran's past behavior is any indication, the actions in Afghanistan are not coincidental. Traceable weapons and airspace violations might serve as reminders that Iran is watching -- ready, able, and willing to engage if necessary. Should Washington and its NATO allies maintain their pressure on Iran -- on its nuclear program, for instance, support for terrorism, or human rights -- Iran might prompt some difficult moments for them. Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta described Iran's refugee expulsions as part of Tehran's pressure on Kabul to resist attempts by NATO to formalize its military presence in Afghanistan, to align with Tehran over "Iran's nuclear issue," and to ensure Iran's access to water.

The refugee crisis has become a legal pressure point, and the political ramifications have been severe for President Hamid Karzai's administration. The impeachment of Foreign Minister Spanta, one of Karzai's principal supporters, has sparked a constitutional crisis. Iranian supporters within the Afghan parliament led the impeachment call on the grounds of Spanta's failure to prevent Iran from its intended course. While Spanta remains at his post pending a Constitutional Court decision, the legal and political battle between the Karzai administration and the Afghan parliament is far from over.

Iran clearly has no intention of holding back when it sits across the table from the United States in Baghdad. Instead, it appears to want to up the ante.

Afghanistan is an easy bet on Iran's part, but it is keeping its cards hidden. Tehran can point to its cooperation with Washington since the Taliban were ousted. But it has also shown that it can contribute to Afghanistan's difficulties. Which card will it play?
Back to Top
Back to Top
Britain's Blair warns of fiercer Afghan insurgency
By Sophie Walker
LONDON, June 12 (Reuters) - Afghanistan risks being overwhelmed by the same anti-Western violence that has torn up Iraq, British Prime Minister Tony Blair warned on Tuesday. Asked about the Iraq war, which cast a huge shadow over his 10 years in office, the outgoing leader said the West had failed to take into account the extent of al Qaeda's reach and that Iraq would attract militants seeking to attack Western forces.

"The mistake was not understanding the fundamentally rooted nature of this global movement that we face and that actually in a situation, whether Iraq or Afghanistan, where you are trying to bring about a different form of government, these people will try to stop us," he said after a speech on media at Reuters headquarters in London.

"Actually, the worry is that we must be careful that Afghanistan is not then subject to the same attempt to undermine and collapse the proper support for democracy," said Blair, who is due to resign on June 27.

This year is seen to be a decisive one in the battle for Afghanistan. NATO troops are taking on Taliban fighters in the worst fighting since the Islamist militia was ousted in 2001 for refusing to hand over Osama bin Laden after Sept. 11.

The Taliban has since been boosted by safe havens and training grounds in Pakistan, its former sponsor.

It has expanded its tactics to include al Qaeda-style suicide bombs and earlier this month tried to kill Afghan President Hamid Karzai in a rocket attack.

Britain has ramped up troop levels in Afghanistan this year to about 7,000 from 5,000, as part of a 30,000-strong NATO force. Top military and diplomatic officials have lined up to warn of the increasing depth of the insurgency.

"We face a serious situation ... clearly in the south and east there is a serious and chronic insurgency," Britain's ambassador to Afghanistan, Sherard Cowper-Coles, said.

"It is very scary and will take time to tackle," he told BBC radio on Tuesday.
Back to Top
Back to Top
For southern Afghan women, learning is for the brave
By Peter Graff
LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan, June 12 (Reuters) - Yesterday she received ten threatening phone calls. From ten different numbers.

"Some say, 'Where are you going? Why are you going to that English class?' Some say, 'We will kill you,'" said Noorzia Mahboob, 50, a former school teacher, now herself a pupil at English clashes in a women's centre in Lashkar Gah, capital of Afghanistan's southern province of Helmand.

"I don't really think it's the Taliban. If they wanted to kill me or kidnap me, they probably would have done it by now. I think it's the people from the town," she adds.

Mahboob, who has run unsuccessfully in a provincial election, said she comes to the classes not just to improve her English, but to act as a role model.

"It is a way of persuading other women to take steps toward learning," she says.

Under the Taliban, who ruled Afghanistan until 2001 and still control some parts of the south, teaching girls was forbidden.

Mahboob ran a school with about 150 pupils, both boys and girls. The Taliban kicked her out of a government building, but she secretly continued teaching in a private house.

Today, with pro-government authorities safely installed in the provincial capital, the Lashkar Gah women's centre operates inside a heavily guarded compound of government buildings.

About 70 women, ranging from pre-teen girls to grandmothers, study English. Last year, a driver who brought women to the centre was murdered, said Mahboob.

"There was a rumour he was bringing women into the PRT," she said, referring to a foreign military base. "People did not understand, and they killed him."

REFUGEES
Far from the town centre, in Mukhtar, a camp of mud and straw huts on the riverbanks, 18-year-old refugee Maha Buba teaches Pashto and Dari languages, English and mathematics to boys and girls packed into a tiny mud-walled classroom.

The children and teachers are from mainly ethnic Hazara families who fled four years ago from Taliban-held territory in the high mountains in the north of the province.

"Under the Taliban we were not allowed to have schools, but we studied in our homes," she said, covering her face while talking to a male reporter and appearing little larger than the children who milled about at her feet outside the school.

"The Taliban were fighting and killing people. They were saying: 'you must give us men as fighters, or money'," she said.

Today the mud-walled school remains under constant threat, said its director, Said Ahmed Shah.

"Once people came and said: 'Why are you teaching in this place?'," he said.

"They call me. People are trying to take this land from us. They want to grow things and build houses on this land."

At the women's centre back in the town centre, Malalai, 24, a pupil, has begun teaching computer classes on a few machines donated by the United States.

Recently the computers were hooked up to the Internet, and she started learning how to e-mail and send photographs.

"The world is developing very quickly, especially Internet technology," she said. "After learning a bit of English, we are not allowed to go to college or university, but this is a chance to keep learning."

Mahboob listens and nods.

"If circumstances allowed us, Afghan women could reach the sky," she says. "Let them try to stop us. We are not afraid of death."

(To read Reuters reporter Peter Graff's blog from southern Afghanistan, go to http://blogs.reuters.com/category/from-reuterscom/embedded-in-af ghanistan/)
Back to Top
Back to Top
Canada wants NL to stay in Afghanistan
12 June 2007
TORONTO (AP) - Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Dutch counterpart discussed extending the Netherlands' mission in Afghanistan beyond 2008, Harper said.

Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende told Harper during a meeting in Ottawa on Monday that his government will decide in August whether to extend the troops' two-year mandate.

The Netherlands has nearly 2,000 troops on a reconstruction mission in southern Afghanistan and Canada has about 2,500 soldiers there.

Canada is concerned that it, along with those from the U.S., Britain and the Netherlands, are the only NATO countries sending forces to fight the Taliban in the most violent areas in the south. Other NATO-contributing countries, such as Germany, France and Italy, restrict the use of their forces to relatively peaceful areas of the north.

''The Prime Minister was clear to me on his feelings on the matter and the process by which the Netherlands will take its decisions this summer,'' Harper said.

''We share similar considerations, similar evaluations and similar concerns. I obviously will not pressure the Prime Minister publicly, but I'll just say we have valued tremendously the cooperation with the Netherlands in southern Afghanistan.''

Harper has repeatedly hinted that Canadian troops may have to stay in Afghanistan beyond a mandate that ends in 2009.

But Canadians have become increasingly concerned about the mission in Afghanistan because of a mounting death toll and reports that troops might be an accomplice to torture. Harper's Conservatives have lost some support according to recent polls.

Fifty-seven Canadian soldiers and one diplomat have been killed thus far in Afghanistan. Opposition lawmakers have been pushing for a troop withdrawal.

Balkenende said the two leaders discussed the need for other NATO partners to do more in the south.

''We can't allow it to become a failed state again,'' said Balkenende, who also called for a larger Afghan army and police force.

Balkenende said he will consult closely with Canada before his government decides whether to stay on.

''We are close partners in the south. I expressed my deep sympathy for the loss of 56 Canadians lives in Afghanistan. Your grief touches us too,'' Balkenende said.

Six Dutch soldiers have died in Afghanistan since the government sent troops to Uruzgan last August. One died from a roadside bomb, three died in aviation accidents, another in an armoured car crash and another in an apparent suicide.
Back to Top
Back to Top
Afghan Forces Found Bomb Like Type Used in Iraq
By ABDUL WAHEED WAFA June 12, 2007 The New York Times
KABUL, Afghanistan, June 11 — Afghan security forces found a sophisticated roadside bomb of the type used in Iraq in the center of Kabul last month, the first time such a device has been discovered in the capital, an Afghan intelligence official said Monday. The bomb was primed to hit a convoy of high-ranking Afghan officials or international forces, the official said.

A NATO spokeswoman, Lt. Col. Maria Carl, confirmed that the type of bomb, called an explosively formed penetrator, or E.F.P., was found in Kabul in May.

The bomb contained 16 kilograms, or about 35 pounds, of explosives and was set to be detonated by remote control from up to a kilometer, the intelligence official said. He asked not to be identified by name because of the secret nature of his job.

The bomb was found in the western part of Kabul, near Polytechnic University, he said.

The Afghan official declined to comment on the origin of the bomb or on when exactly it had been found. Roadside bombs of the E.F.P. type have been frequently used in Iraq, and military officials there have said the sophisticated bombs have their origin in neighboring Iran.

The use of roadside bombs has increased in Afghanistan in the past 18 months, but most have been made from remote-controlled antitank mines laid under or beside the road.

Colonel Carl said that the Kabul bomb was the second such bomb found in Afghanistan, and that it was a little more sophisticated than the first, which was found in April in western Afghanistan, a region that borders Iran.

The bomb had similar characteristics to those found in Iraq, but its origin was not clear, she said. “Obviously we are very interested in finding more about where it came from just so we can prevent more of them in the future,” she said in a telephone interview.

Elsewhere on Monday, a suicide bomber’s car struck a police checkpoint outside the provincial town of Khost in eastern Afghanistan, wounding three policemen, one critically, and eight civilians.

The car bomb exploded almost two miles outside Khost as the police were checking cars entering the town. It set off a huge fire, and most of the victims were injured from the spreading flames, the provincial governor, Arsallah Jamal, said after visiting the town hospital.

“One of the policemen already lost his leg, and probably he will lose the other leg and is in a very critical condition,” Mr. Jamal said.
Back to Top
Back to Top
Al-Qaida tape shows attack on police
Mon Jun 11, 10:31 PM ET
NEW YORK - Al-Qaida released a video Monday showing what it claimed to be an April 1 ambush on an Afghan police convoy driving between two major cities in  Afghanistan.

The 16-minute video shows about a dozen attackers in rocky hills alongside a highway firing rifles and rocket-propelled grenades as a line of vehicle approach with sirens blaring. Gunshots and explosions are heard echoing in the mountains, above the voices of the attackers.

At least four cars appear to be hit. At one point, the footage shows a close-up of one of the casualties, a walkie-talkie and keys to the car. In all, three bodies are shown.

"This sends a message to the apostates and the hypocrites that the mujahedeen will never leave them alone ... and will pursue and ambush them everywhere," said one of the attackers, whose words were translated in subtitles.

The videotape's authenticity could not be independently verified. It carried the logo of al-Qaida's media production wing, al-Sahab. It was obtained by IntelCenter, a Virginia-based firm that tracks terrorism transmissions on the Internet.

The video said the attack occurred on a highway connecting the capital of Kabul with the key southern city of Kandahar.

Kandahar provincial police have reported that on April 1, suspected Taliban insurgents ambushed two Afghan police convoys and killed seven policemen in southern Afghanistan, but it couldn't be determined if the video showed one of these attacks.
Back to Top
Back to Top
Netherlands Contributes to Enhance Education in Baghlan
Source: Government of the Netherlands 12 Jun 2007
Kabul, Afghanistan - The Dutch Ambassador to Kabul H.E. Hans Blankenberg and the Minister of Education of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan H.E. Hanif Atmar signed a memorandum of understanding today concerning the Netherlands additional contribution of one million dollars to improve education in Baghlan Province.

"We believe that effective education plays the most important role in a country's development, and we therefore see it as a priority in our assistance to our Afghan friends," said Ambassador Blankenberg at the signing ceremony.

The Netherlands is supporting the Afghan National Education Programme 'EQUIP' with a total contribution of four million dollars out of which three million will be spent on education in Uruzgan (320 classrooms) and one million in Baghlan (64 classrooms). The funding will be channelled through the Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF).

The Netherlands, which is currently playing an important role in ISAF in Uruzgan, led the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Baghlan until fall 2006.

The Netherlands is also supporting other small education projects in Uruzgan, often executed by non-governmental organisations.

The Netherlands is a member of the European Union (EU). The EU (European Commission and 27 member states) has disbursed collectively EUR 3,7 billion in aid to Afghanistan over five years (2002-2006), i.e. more than one third of the aid pledged by the international community. At the London Conference in January 2006, the EU pledged a further EUR 2 billion (about USD 2.4 billion) for reconstruction assistance to Afghanistan over the coming years.
Back to Top
Back to Top
150,000 telephone lines to be provided in one year
KABUL, June 10 (Pajhwok Afghan News): The Ministry of Communication has launched work on a comprehensive programme to provide 150,000 telephone lines in the central capital and four other major cities of the country.

The announcement was made by Communication Minister Amirzai Sangin during a ceremony here on Sunday.

He said the project would be completed at the cost of $40 million to be provided from the development budget of the ministry.

Chalking out the lines distribution plan, the minister said 102,000 lines will be provided in Kabul, 15,000 each in Kandahar and Mazar-i-Sharif, 10,000 in Jalalabad and 8,000 in Kunduz.

Work on the project had already been started by Iranian company Shaheedi Qandi and Indian company Astar in Kabul, said the minister, adding the process would also be launched in the four cities soon.

Sagin said the plan would be completed in one year which would enable people to get an easy and inexpensive access to communication technology.

An amount of 1.5 afghanis/minute is being charged for a local call from digital to digital telephone line. However, the amount is five afghanis in case of phone call from digital to other company.

Over 200,000 telephone lines had been distributed across the country over the previous four years, said officials of the ministry. Besides the state-owned telecommunication company, private companies, such as Afghan wireless, Roshan and Areeba are also providing service to consumers in the country.
Mustafa Basharat
Back to Top

 Back to News Archirves of 2007
 
Disclaimer: This news site is mostly a compilation of publicly accessible articles on the Web in the form of a link or saved news item. The news articles and commentaries/editorials are protected under international copyright laws. All credit goes to the original respective source(s).